aconium GmbH is organizing the “Governmental Day” workshop for the fifth time in a row on 13 February 2018 as part of the FTTH Conference 2018 in Valencia. The workshop is aimed at political decision-makers, public administration officials and regional and local representatives from EU member states. The program includes keynote speeches from representatives of the European Commission and regional initiatives from the member states. This will be followed by interactive “multilogues” between the workshop participants in the context of tackling the digital divide in rural areas to exchange experiences.

Agenda and speakers

February 13, 2018 | FERIA VALENCIA, Avinguda de les Fires 1, 46035 València (Spain)

Moderation: Tony Shortall (Managing Director of TELAGE)


  • 14:00 – 14:05: Opening and greetingsTim Brauckmüller, Managing Director of aconium GmbH, BCO Germany
  • 14:05 – 14:35: European Commission – Policy UpdateCarlota Reyners Fontana, Head of Unit B5, European Commission Directorate-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technologies, Investing in High Capacity Networks
    • Broadband policy, initiatives, regulations
    • BCO Network
    • Funding opportunities (including the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund)
    • European gigabit society
    • 5G and convergent networks
    • WiFi4EU and Broadband Europe
  • 14:35 – 15:30: Planning successful broadband expansion! Best practices from the European regionswinners of the European Broadband Awards
    • Colchester Business Broadband, UKSteven Eke, Project Manager and Councillor, Colchester
    • Coviolo Wireless, Italy -ValeriaMontanari, expert for the digital agenda of Reggio Emilia
    • Optic fiber to all houses on Gotland, SwedenAnne Ståhl Mousa, Head of IT Strategy and International Affairs, Gotland Region
    • Initial impulse Glass-Fiber-City Lauchhammer, GermanyHeinz-Peter Labonte, Chairman of KOMBUNT

15:30 – 16:00: Coffee break


  • 16:00 – 16:10: Combating the digital divide in rural areas Peyman Khodabakhsh, CORA project partner aconium GmbH, Germany
    • Ideas from the Interreg NSR project “Connecting Remote Areas with digital infrastructure and services”
  • 16:10 – 16:20: Building a collaborative economy through non-profit networksRoman Rocca, Project Manager, Guifi-net, Spain
    • Local and regional examples of combating the digital divide in rural areas
  • 16:20 – 16:45: Multilogues – Combating the digital divide in rural areasAll participants; Moderation: Darijus Valiucko, Project Manager, aconium GmbH, Germany
  • 16:45 – 17:20: Presentation of the discussion resultsAll participants
  • 17:20 – 17:30: Summary of the workshopTim Brauckmüller, Managing Director aconium GmbH, BCO Germany
    • Summary of the results of the workshop and outlook
You have the opportunity to register via aconium and thus take part in the workshop and the FTTH Conference free of charge or at a reduced rate.

  • Political decision-makers and representatives of public institutions take part free of charge
  • Scientists and students pay 110 € + VAT.
  • As a partner of the FTTH Council, aconium GmbH offers a 20% discount for all other participants
Also recommended: The workshop “Germany after the General Election – getting serious about Gigabit”, which also takes place on February 13, immediately before the “Governmental Day” workshop and complements it well thematically.

Photo above: The last aconium GmbH Governmental Workshop took place in Berlin in October 2017. Photo credit: aconium GmbH/Florian Schuh. Picture below: Banner of the FTTH Conference 2018, photo credit: FTTH Council Europe.